National

It was a mixed day for the state of New Mexico during the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Portland, Ore., Thursday.
Fifth-seeded New Mexico held off Long Beach State 75-68 and the Lobos will face Louisville in a third-round matchup Saturday in the West Regional. Thirteen-seeded New Mexico State, meanwhile, was unable to handle Indiana inside and fell 79-66 to Indiana in the South Regional.
In the New Mexico game, Kendall Williams scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and bottled up Long Beach State star Casper Ware defensively.
When New Mexico needed a big shot, Williams delivered. His 3-pointer with 4:38 left pushed the Lobos ahead for good after Long Beach State (25-9) took a 61-59 lead on a steal and windmill dunk from James Ennis.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The expectation back in New Mexico is that this will finally be the year the Lobos get past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

They barely got out of the second round Thursday.

Kendall Williams scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and bottled up Long Beach State star Casper Ware defensively as fifth-seeded New Mexico held off the 49ers for a 75-68 win in the West Regional.

Drew Gordon added 18 points and 13 rebounds, but New Mexico's punishing forward was mostly a complement to Williams in the second half. The sophomore went 6 of 11 from the field, hitting a pair of important 3-pointers. The Lobos (28-6) then made their free throws in the final minute to close it out.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The expectation back in New Mexico is that this will finally be the year the Lobos get past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

They barely got out of the second round Thursday.

Kendall Williams scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and bottled up Long Beach State star Casper Ware defensively as fifth-seeded New Mexico held off the 49ers for a 75-68 win in the West Regional.

Drew Gordon added 18 points and 13 rebounds, but New Mexico's punishing forward was mostly a complement to Williams in the second half. The sophomore went 6 of 11 from the field, hitting a pair of important 3-pointers. The Lobos (28-6) then made their free throws in the final minute to close it out.

Think of it as one-stop shopping on game days for all your NCAA tournament needs. We'll have interviews with celebrity alums drawn from sports, entertainment and politics, plus "bracket-buster" picks, photos, news, gossip, stats, notes and quotes from around the tourney sites — all of it bundled into a quick read that will give diehard fans and officer-poolers alike plenty of material to sound smart during the day ahead. Look for it Thursday through Sunday mornings on the first two tournament weekends. So without further ado:

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Colts owner Jim Irsay says the team is releasing quarterback Peyton Manning after a 14-year run that included one Super Bowl title and four MVP awards.
Irsay and Manning are appearing together Wednesday at a news conference at the Colts’ team complex to announce the move.
The 35-year-old Manning will become a free agent, and there is expected to be interest from a half-dozen or so NFL clubs, provided he’s healthy. Manning is coming off a series of operations to his neck and missed all of last season.

The Peyton era in Indianapolis is expected to end Wednesday, according to a report by ESPN. Citing anonymous sources, the sports network says the Colts organization plans to hold a news conference on Wednesday to announce the decision.

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A former professional wrestler is suing his opponent and the Indiana-based promoter who arranged their bout last year, claiming his foe was supposed to lose their match but had other ideas and kicked him so hard in the crotch that he had to have surgery.
John Levi Miller, 23, contends in his lawsuit filed Monday that Clinton Woosley was the “heel,” a term used to describe the designated villain, of their match last June, The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., reported. He says Woosley, who wrestles under the name Guido Andretti, declined his invitation to map out the fight, as is customary, and instead said he understood the plan.

Rain, fire and Tide laundry detergent all factored into a Daytona 500 that will go down as the most bizarre in NASCAR history.

And Brad Keselowski tweeted most of it live. From his race car. Then he provided another update minutes after crashing at 190 mph.

And oh, yeah, Matt Kenseth picked up his second Daytona 500 title.

"You would think after 65 years and running all the races that NASCAR has run ... that you've seen about everything," NASCAR President Mike Helton said. "You do think about, 'Oh, my gosh, if that can happen, what else can happen?'"